The fitness industry had an explosive year bringing virtual reality to the living rooms, arcades, and gyms of gamers around the world. In 2017 we saw a development of VR compatible wearables. Great experiences, sports, fitness and mindfulness apps, VR fitness studios and games on a whole new level. With millions of headsets sold, the VR fitness movement is losing its baby fat and gaining muscle at full steam.
VR, AR and MR wearables
Credit To: Genome
Fortunately, the internet is a wonderful place where everything we want to buy is always at hand. The creation of smart watches Companies like Samsung, Apple, and Fitbit have paved the way for other tech companies to begin developing VR, AR, and mixed reality wearables (MR).
Fitness enthusiasts and developers jumped on board E-skins Kickstarter raising enough money to create development kits for their VR, AR and MR compatible compression shirt. The e-skin shirt has great potential to help the wearer obtain data about their body, correct their posture and turn the body into a VR gaming controller.
2017 was a big year for cyclists who want to hit the streets and see real-time data from wearing them Raptor AR cycling glasses. Equipped with rain and dust-resistant glasses, cyclists could do more than just keep the sun out of their eyes. These street fighters were able to cycle on bike lanes and roads with GPS tracking and received additional help with their countdown uphill via Smart Arc.
Photo credit to: Manus
Gloves with haptics and control options were huge again this year. Used by NASA Hands VR gloves used mixed reality to train astronauts for life on the International Space Station, to prepare them for the vertigo in space and to use the expensive technical equipment. In addition to being used by space cadets, the Manus gloves are currently being developed as a controller fit that gamers can use alongside their favorite VR games.
Controllers are standard for VR use right out of the box, however HaptX gloves started developing haptic gloves, which will have a huge impact on the entertainment and fitness industries. Their programmable hand and arm tracking gloves turned the wearer’s hands into gaming controllers that allowed the user to sense the weight and shape of an object in a VR experience.
Great VR experiences
Jump out of the spatial experience – VR games have never been this big! Fit gamers looking to break out of routine VR experiences looked for camp-sized games No latency that they could play with a group of friends or match friends. Fit gamers wore wireless VR computers and headsets while killing zombies and moving around and jumping in.
VR is emerging from its infancy and has landed in the spotlight. Entertainment partnerships with AMC and Nickelodeon are a big reason for this Immersive dream landscape, a location-based VR experience, has received so much attention this year. While we don’t know exactly what cinematic experiences they’ll bring in 2018, the adoption of VR in the entertainment industry will undoubtedly lead to more buzz and high quality gaming experiences that we can all look forward to.
VR fitness, mindfulness and sports apps
Zombies! Run! Learn to survive the apocalypse! Photo credit: Zombies! Run!
Mobile VR and AR players have made their fitness one of the most helpful fitness and Meditation apps in 2017. AR games like Zombies, Run! The runners built their stamina and helped make running less tortuous for everyone else. The app was effective for exercise, motivating its users with stories, complete with sound effects of zombies chasing them and inspiring sofa potatoes to do runs and survive another day.
Mobile VR users transported themselves to distant beaches, planets, and other insightful environments while using House of Meditation and Guided Meditation VR to calm overactive thoughts or overworked bodies. Fit players received mindfulness training and used breath meters to relax and re-activate sore muscles after training.
Photo credit to: Rickie Fowler via PRNewsfoto / Success Co.
Like VR sports apps Rickie Fowler’s hit streak brought golf fans and real golfers to their A-Game. The Success Series app is proof that 360 videos aren’t just for VR users. It contains helpful lessons on improving golf swings, tips for short and long games, and stories about the hard work it takes to be a PGA professional and how to hold your own as a golfer.
VR fitness workouts
This year commercial gyms partnered with VirZOOM with stationary life cycle bikes and got adults and children interested in VR as a fitness outlet. Fit players played an average of 38 minutes per workout, more than three times a week, with VR training devices like VirZOOM, which motivated players like Will Brierly crush 50 pounds!
Like VR-enabled gym workouts VR Fit give fit players and fitness fans the opportunity to get fit and have fun with VR equipment. VR Fit’s Tim Donahey is a longtime fitness trainer who uses virtual reality to inspire their customers for a fun and effective workout and who also gives VR fitness gaming reviews. Check out his reviews for helpful tips and tricks to exercise your body while using technology to gain muscle or lose weight.
Credit to: Black Box VR
The invention of virtual fitness machines like Black Box VR’s cable resistance machine is the only VR strength training machine on the market. With the development of their innovative resistance machine and the opening of their first VR gym, Black Box VR will have a mighty year 2018! The Black Box VR gear is reworking the way gamers, seasoned athletes, and professional bodybuilders tone their bodies. It uses hands-free controllers, so you don’t have to worry about dropping expensive off-the-shelf controllers as fitness enthusiasts can use all their might with every virtual interaction. Black Box VR is the winner of the CES 2018 Innovation Awards and will receive the award in Las Vegas January 9-12!
VR fitness gaming
Credit to: FITCADE
Everyday people like you and me, gamers and fitness professionals hugged VR games for fun meets fitness element. Nobody likes boring or inactive games – so independent entrepreneurs and large studios heard the posts and headed to flood platforms, especially Steam VR, with games that were as effective for gaming as they were for fitness.
Sacramento belongs Fitcade Opened this year and you’ve seen individuals, groups, and families enjoy their VR gaming experience. Equipped with games that family and friends of all fitness levels can enjoy, the Granger use VR games to rekindle the feel of an old arcade that has been spiced up by VR.
Credit To: Survios
A game like Sprint vector hasn’t even been fully released yet and public interest in competitive esports games is huge. So big that Survios joined Intel, NVIDIA, and Oculus to host it Alienware VR Cup in Las Vegas the same week as the CES 2018 Awards. This VR beta knows that game mechanics are important for fitness and has made our arms burn and our faces soaked when we sprint on futuristic tracks against strong competitors.
VR Fitness Awards 2017
Over the course of the year, we’ve seen readers and fit-gamers, as well as the fitness industry, prefer forward-looking VR products and games with open arms. In 2017, pounds were lost and muscle built, but much more was coming from VR technology – health and wellbeing for the masses. In recognition of the virtual reality industry and its life-changing contribution to fitness this year, VR Fitness Insider honored 11 of the industry’s best competitors with the 2017 VR Fitness Insider VR Fitness Awards.
The combination of strength training and endurance VR game BOXVR won gold for the best VR boxing fitness game of the year. This energetic rhythm boxing helped players and hardcore athletes achieve better cardio, strength training, and fat burning with each workout.
VR fitness future
With the adoption of virtual reality as an excellent tool for fitness in 2017, stereotypes of gamers being lazy and out of shape is the last decade. With years of product development, technology and game development, a new year begins, a new beginning! With more VR fitness games, wireless HMDs shipping out, and companies like Black Box VR making fitness an important part of every day, 2018 is the year VR and fitness will shape the world. A VR fitness revolution is coming.
Follow us on social
Stay up to date with the latest VR fitness news
This article may contain affiliate links. When you click on an affiliate link and buy a product, we may receive a small commission to help publish it. More information here.
Comments are closed.